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35 of 37 found the following review helpful:
Great Hack-and-Slash Fun with Puzzles GaloreApr 08, 2007
By Lisa Shea
"medieval swordfighting enthusiast"
Prince of Persia - Rival Swords for the Wii is a remake of Two Thrones, but for the Wii. The game has also been gentled a bit, earning a Teen rating rather than the Mature rating Two Thrones sported.
The game is classic Prince of Persia style - jumping up platforms, leaping from wall to wall, climbing up columns, sliding down long banners. Each room is a series of puzzles - what combination of jumps, slides and leaps will it take to get to the next destination?
If you've played the Two Thrones version or seen it played, you might wonder why it's ported to the Wii. Really, the difference here (besides the slightly improved graphics) is the interactivity of the Wii remote system. If you've had your Wii for a while, you really do get used to moving your hands around to slice and dice, rather than putting little buttons. It is quite satisfying to watch the Prince balance on a beam based on your movements of the remote ... to sneak up silently on a guard and SLASH to take him out with cinematic flair.
You get running dialogue as you play, again adding to the cinematic atmosphere - but it becomes really annoying when you have to replay a given level for the 10th time due to missing a ledge and hear the exact ... same ... thing ... all ... over ... again. A good way to play this game is with friends watching, so they can give advice on solving the puzzle, but it also means that you all start chanting along with the repetitive dialogue each time you go through it again.
I like the dark and moody atmosphere of the game, and the middle eastern poppy music they have in the background. I do find the graphics to be a little TOO dark in scenes, though - you can barely see what you're doing. It's hard enough to solve a puzzle you can see - but to solve a puzzle that involves murky half-shapes is a challenge that seems unnecessary. Especially when the price of failure is listening to an inane description yet again.
Still, these are minor complaints in a game that is fun to play and draws you into its world. Even if you've played the Two Thrones version, I recommend at least renting this, to see how it feels to play this. If you've not tried Two Thrones, this is well worth getting.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Shallow and Short - Good Only for RentingJun 08, 2009
By B. Lim I have to say, I'm quite disappointed with this game. Just like my review's title says, Prince of Persia: Rival Swords is quite short (it took me only five days to beat the game!) and shallow in terms of the story. If you happen to have low standards and just want something to keep you busy, this is your game. If you're looking for something with a good story and open-ended gameplay, look elsewhere. The overall mediocre quality of the game justifies the low price.
Cons: -Bad sound mixing in cinematics - In some cases, the characters' voices are too low to hear over the sound effects and music. In others, all of the sound is unjustifiably turned down too low, which forces you to turn the volume up. Once gameplay resumes, you end up almost blowing your ears out. -Short - You can blaze through this game just in time to return it for a refund to whichever store you bought it from. -Shallow story - Moves too fast for much character development or interaction to occur. -Difficult to pull off Speed Kills - These moves allow you to quickly dispatch unwitting enemies and are necessary to win some boss battles. Because this is a game that uses the Wii's motion-sensing capabilities, there is a tendency for even small movements of the wiimote to be registered as commands to attack. Because Speed Kills can be done only by slashing or shaking the wiimote at the right time, you have to keep it as still as possible if you don't want to make the game think that you swung too early and possibly get yourself hurt or killed as a result. This downside makes battles more difficult than necessary, especially when fighting the final boss. -Occasional graphics glitches - These are basically minor. One time, I saw an enemy turn completely invisible except for her weapons. After using a time power, she became fully visible again. -Movements of wiimote do not always register in combat -Wiimote is completely silent - You don't get any aural feedback from slashing your weapons or pushing objects. -Tendency to slow down in combat, which detracts from the experience
Pros: -Beautifully-rendered full-motion cinematics -Ability to rewind time - Very useful when you're far from the last save point and don't want to have to start all over again if you get killed. -Ability to perform impressive acrobatics -Detailed levels
Personally, I'd advise not to bother buying this game. Rent it if you want to save yourself some financial pain.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Fun, a little repetitive, ok for some kidsJul 16, 2007
By Patterson Edward
"Wsublues"
The game is pretty fun. The majority of the game is spent running around, jumping from ledge to ledge, sliding down walls, jumping onto ropes, climbing walls and much more. The main game play revolves around you climbing all over a palace to get to the final enemy. There is no blood in the game as every time you strike someone, Sands of Time, come out. So you need to gauge whether you think your child can take that or you want to expose them to that. Besides the "sand blood" there isn't much else to fear, no obscenities or semi-nude stuff just fun game play. This game doesn't stand up to Zelda but its still fun and has the advantage of you being able to increase the difficulty level so if you beat it on easy you can increase it to medium or hard and play again with more challenge. Like games in the same genre, you have to continually figure out what to manipulate in the environment to get you to the next level. After a while it becomes a little repetitive and easy. If you like adventure games then you'll find this one at least somewhat entertaining.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
I LOVE THIS GAMEDec 23, 2007
By Ziant
"Ziant1"
I'm addicted to this game. You really have to use your eyes and ears. Invisible creatures. Ledges, platforms and wall indents which you use to rally through different stages. I got stuck at some parts but somehow I always figured out how to move on. It's like they created it for a certain time of confusion then movement.
If you die somehow, you can rewind time and come right back.
The way you kill an opponent is excellent as well. The Wii controls make it even better!
If you have a lot of work to do and don't have time to play a game that requires thought, don't buy this. Get a racing game or something cause this will have you addicted. This is a must have, if you have a Wii and is over 11 then you must have this game! AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Get "The Two Thrones" insteadMay 27, 2010
By Daniel Johnson First, I'd like to say that I love "The Sands of Time" Prince of Persia game trilogy. However, If you're thinking of getting this game, please consider getting "The Two Thrones" instead.
"Rival Swords" is exactly the same as "The Two Thrones" (the final game in the trilogy), except that it is repackaged for the Wii and it has new controls. The graphics and sound may have been improved, but it certainly was not enough for me to be able to tell. There are even the same old audio glitches from "The Two Thrones" preserved in all their glory (At one point the dialog drops out and in another part it sounds like the dialog is maxing out the speakers).
It's those new controls that really screw things up. While they may be trying to sell this game based on the motion control gimmick, they did not do it right. This game does not use the Wii Motion Plus, and it does not offer true motion control. Instead, the flick of the Wiimote and Nunchuck simply replace the press of a button. Since it is often hard to get these flicks to register, combat becomes a bit ridiculous. Rather than using all those cool combos that you learned from "Warrior Within", combat degenerates into randomly waving your hands around. It is not difficult (in fact, I found combat to often be too easy), but it is not as fun. The point of motion controls is to enhance your engagement, but I felt more like an observer.
Even worse is the use of Quick Time Events. This is an annoying devise used by many modern games where you have to press certain buttons when prompted to win a fight (often parodied with variations of "Press X to not die"). When I played "The Two Thrones" on the PS2 a while back, it was my first encounter with Quick Time Events and I wasn't crazy about it, but they were not a big deal. After all, they only happen during an (optional) stealth attack or during a boss fight. Unfortunately, trying to pull off a series of these Quick Time Events with Wiimote flicks becomes ridiculous (and maybe game-ending). Hitting a button is one thing, but trying to get a Wiimote flick to register in the short amount of time provided is frustrating. I made it all the way to the last boss and gave up. I remember beating him very quickly in hard mode on the PS2 all those years ago, but it was just too irritatingly frustrating with the Wii controls.
Overall, the game is great, but get "The Two Thrones" version to avoid the horrible Wii controls. If you get the Gamecube version, you can even play it on your Wii (if you have a gamecube controller and memory card).
based on 29 reviews
( 29 customer reviews )
